DPP Says Budna Case File Lacks Substance

In related news, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), has been given the Budna case file and has been tasked with determining if anyone should be charged.  To date, after having reviewed the file, the blame in the Joseph Budna kidnapping is yet to find an owner.  According to the DPP Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, while the file is thick, it has absolutely no substance.

Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, Director of Public Prosecutions: “The file was delivered to my office last Wednesday. It is not a thin file. I too was expecting a thin file. It is not a thin file. I was also expecting, and I apologize as director for saying this, but I was also expecting that there would have been nothing in the file. What I was not expecting was that there would be less than nothing in the file, which is really my characterization of what has been put before me. But we are looking at the file as a team and we are deciding where we’re going to be. Based on what was said to me at this very moment, there cannot possibly be an arrest of anyone because very few people saw anything and what they saw, they’re not too sure about what it was that they saw. So at the moment, no, they can definitely not be an arrest of anyone at all.” 

The kidnapping case drew national attention when Budna, a well-known Belizean journalist and activist, was reportedly abducted on Friday, August 22, under mysterious circumstances. While the case remains open, the DPP’s comments suggest that further investigative work will be required before any legal action can be taken./